Recently, rapid processing at high temperatures during development processing of photographic material has become popular. Also, in automatic development processing of light-sensitive material, developing solutions are required which provide sufficient sensitivity in a short amount of time. Light-sensitive materials having excellent developing performance and which cause no residual color, even in a short amount of processing time, are also required as well as light-sensitive material which drys in a short amount of time after washing. Automatic processors may have a drying zone built the inside thereof and inferior drying performance of the light-sensitive material requires a larger drying zone which results in increased size of the automatic processor. Further, generation of large amounts of energy results in increasing the temperature in the room in which the automatic processor is located.
Accelerating the drying speed of the light-sensitive material as much as possible is desired. Generally, a hardener is added to the light sensitive material prior to costing thereof, and swelling rate in an emulsion layer and in a surface protective layer in the developing-fixing-rinsing processes is decreased to reduce the water content in the light-sensitive material before drying. Use of a significant amount of the hardener can accelerate drying speed. However, it increases developing time, lowers a sensitivity and reduces a covering power. In addition, using significant amounts of hardener causes delay of fixing speed of an unexposed silver halide grain, deterioration of residual color, and increase in residual hypo in the light-sensitive material after processing. Reduced water content in the light-sensitive material before the drying can be also achieved by decreasing the amounts of hydrophilic material (that is, gelatin), synthetic high molecular weight polymer, and hydrophilic low molecular weight polymer, contained in the light-sensitive material. In general, the hydrophilic low molecular weight polymer is used to prevent dry fog of a silver halide grain during a coating process and the removal thereof generates a fog on the light-sensitive material.
Light-sensitive material has been advantageously designed so that the amount of binder, particularly gelatin, coated on the light-sensitive material is reduced. However, decreasing the coated amount of gelatin in an emulsion layer generates increased pressure blackening, accurrence of black spots during processing, and layer peeling during processing due to reduced layer strength. This means a pickoff generally described in the art. Reducing the amount of the binder in a surface protective layer is may cause a matting agent contained in a surface protective layer coating solution to settle because of reduced protective colloid action by the gelatin. Also, in a coated layer, reducing binder levels causes the matting agent to be peeled off during processing which can stain a processing solution. Polyalkylene oxide, which is a nonionic series surface active agent, is conventionally added to a surface protective layer as an electrification controlling agent. However, the polyalkylene oxide affects a surface charge in the matting agent and accelerates settling of the matting agent from a coating solution containing the same.
As described in JP-A-51-6017 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an unexamined published Japanese patent application), JP-A-61-20028, and JP-A-53-7231, the matting agent has an important function, in particular, preventing sticking, preventing static marks, and preventing scratchs caused when the surface protective layer of a photographic material contacts other substances. Conventionally, the matting agent has been incorporated into a non-light-sensitive protective layer (hereinafter referred to as a protective layer) for the above-mentioned purposes.
Concentrating of a solution containing polyalkylene oxide, in order to increase the protective colloid performance thereof in some cases accelerates settling from the solution due to the concentration of the polyalkylene oxide in the solution. Reduction of the coated amount of polyalkylene oxide causes static marks and inferior transportation of the light sensitive material during processing. Further, reducing the amount of water soluble polymer causes repelling of coating solution during coating and generation of coagulated material. Reducing the amount of water soluble polymer also lowers development swelling in case of the same drying speed and causes deterioration of covering power and sensitivity.
The present invention provides a photographic material without the above-discussed problems, and a method for producing the same.
As described in, for example, JP-A-1-154141, JP-A-1-159634, and JP-A-1-14574, a matting agent having a hydrophilic group is effective in terms of improving the stability of a matting agent in a coating solution and preventing the matting agent from peeling off from a coated material. However, an excess of hydrophilic groups causes elution of the matting agent from a light sensitive material containing the same during developing of the light sensitive material, which changes the size and amount of the matting agent in the light sensitive material before and after processing. Accordingly, glossiness of processed light sensitive material is reduced, and sliding performance and separating performance of the processed light-sensitive material are also reduced. Further, the processing solution used to process the light sensitive material is stained. In addition, holes remain in the light sensitive material where matting agent particles are removed. These holes resemble a white punched hole at a high density portion on a picture and cause deterioration of image quality.
Intensive investigations made by the present inventors resulted in obtaining a matting agent which does not dissolve in a processing solution due to a hydrophilic group present in the matting agent and due to a cross linking reaction with a cross linking agent. It was found by the present inventors that the use of a matting agent in accordance with the invention provides a light-sensitive material having excellent stability in a coating solution and having an excellent handling characteristics and image quality.